Gérard Depardieu

Birth name Gérard Xavier Marcel DepardieuNationalityFranceBirth 27 december 1948 (69 years) at Châteauroux (France)Awards Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Knight of the National Order of Merit, Best Actor Award, Academy Award for Best Actor, César Award for Best Actor, Prix Lumière/Bester Darsteller, Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Copa Volpi per la millor interpretació masculina, 7 d'Or, Prix Lumière du Festival de Lyon

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu ([ʒeʁaʁ dəpaʁdjø]; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner. He is one of the most prolific character actors in film history, having completed approximately 170 movies since 1967.
He received critical acclaim for his performances in The Last Metro (1980), for which he won the César Award for Best Actor, in Police (1985), for which he won the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actor, Jean de Florette (1986) and Cyrano de Bergerac (1990), winning the Cannes Film Festival for Best Actor, his second César Award for Best Actor and his first Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur and Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite. He was granted citizenship of Russia in January 2013 and the same month became a cultural ambassador of Montenegro.

Biography

In 1970, Depardieu married Élisabeth Guignot, with whom he had two children, actor Guillaume (1971–2008) and actress Julie (1973). On 28 January 1992, while separated from Élisabeth, he had a daughter, Roxanne, with the model Karine Silla. In 1996 he divorced Élisabeth and began a relationship with actress Carole Bouquet, who was his partner from 1997 to 2005.

On 14 July 2006, he had a son, Jean, with French-Cambodian Hélène Bizot (daughter of François Bizot and not to be confused with actress Hélène Bizot). Since 2005, Depardieu has lived with Harvard-educated novelist, Clémentine Igou.

On 13 October 2008, his son Guillaume, whose health had been severely affected by drugs, a motorbike crash and, most importantly, a hospital infection contracted during the post-accident operations, eventually leading to the amputation of his leg, died at the age of 37 from complications linked to a sudden case of pneumonia.

In recent years, Depardieu has attracted attention from the media and legal authorities for his behavior. On August 16. 2011, he urinated on the carpet of a CityJet airplane as it departed Paris for Dublin. In August 2012, he was accused of assault and battery for punching a motorist in Paris. In November 2012, he was arrested for driving while intoxicated after he fell from his scooter, and was found to have a blood alcohol level of 1.8 grams per litre, well above the French limit for driving of 0.5.

He has been an official resident of Néchin, Belgium since 7 December 2012. French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault criticised his move. On 15 December 2012, Depardieu publicly stated he was handing back his French passport. On 3 January 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an Executive Order granting Russian citizenship to Depardieu. In his first interview thereafter, Depardieu attacked Putin's critics. In his autobiography Depardieu said Putin 'immediately liked my hooligan side.' In February 2013 he registered as a resident of Saransk. Also in January 2013 he was appointed a cultural ambassador for Montenegro.

During the summer 2015, Depardieu was banned from TV and movie theaters in Ukraine.